Summer Homework

I am not a school teacher - that job is not a good fit with my skill set. I see my job as being an advocate for my child in their school, and as a sort-of 'support staff' for the teacher. Also, I try to give my kids every chance possible to have a positive academic experience. To that end, each child has homework over the summer; it just seems like a lot to ask to take a three month break and then dive right back into the material. I don't teach anything new to the kids, rather we just do worksheets that support what they learned already this year.

For each page completed without complaining (I don't mean complaining like, "I need help! This is hard!" I mean complaining like, "I hate homework, I don't waaaana dooo it"), they get a point (see my earlier post about the summer point system). I cannot tell you what it feels like to have all three kids after breakfast this morning say, "Can we please do homework?"

So now on a Sunday morning, all three kids are working on homework, Chris and I are helping and being present, and I am in family bliss. This is, to me, a successful 'experiment' in summer homework.